The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-23
\ lumber 80.
WHERE THE POTATO CAME FROM
Interesting Information Furnished at the
Potato rercentenary in London.
Innlnn Tmns


! Yesterday was the first day of the con
| ferences held i'm connection with the po-
! tato tercensenary in ~. stephens Hall
! Westminster. Mr.. w =. Mitchell. NJ
A.. read the first paper on 'The Historic
Consideration of the observation-disclosures
Came the Potato To Englandy" Accord
ing to history our potato was "A Virginia
importation. but he thought il impossi-
bile that this could be- correct. History
had misled botanists. and il would be-
useful AZ this tercentenary occasion for
us Ia thoroughly wipe out the historic
troubles arising through the carelessness
of previous writers, So that future work
ers might have their path
cleared for them. Mr. Mitchell
then gave the reasons which induced
him la believe that the potato had been
introduced into England by Sir Francis
Drake, in 1850, lie believed that Drake
had originally obtained the tuber from
South America. either by purchase or
punder. and had conveyed il to England
AT the conclusion Of the voyage i'm which
he relieved Raleighs Nirginian colony.
The potato thus being brought in brakes
ships, but with Ralrighs colonists. would
reconcile the contradictory traditions
winch ascrbed the Introduction of the
potato to both Raleigh and Drake.
Mr.. Clements r. Markham, G. B., r.
Il. =, read paper upon Potato Guilt
walton 10y the lncas and other Andean
Nations. He said that the original
home of the potato was i'm the Cordilleras
of the Andes, in South America. There
il had been cultivated from time
lmmemorlal over an extent Of 1900
miles. When the Spaniards first arrived
the potato was a domesticated plant i'm
the kingdom of the ChibChas, in the
province of Quito, throughout the Em-
pire of the lncas of Peru, and I'm Chill.
This fact of its immemoral cultivation
rendered Il difficult 10 ascertain with GER
tainty the localities where the potato was
Indigenous. II was most probable. ON
the whole. that the potato originally
grew Wild i'm suitable localities through
ont thr Cordilleras of Peru and Chill.
The potato was unknown further north
than the highlands of Bogota. i'm Column
bia, and IL was there that one Of the
three American civilizations had its root
namely. that called 10y the Spanish con
qurrors the Mysca nation. Its people
sIoko n language called Chibchn, which
~ now extinct But vorabularifs have
been preserved, and they revealed the
fact that the ancient people Of Bogota
cultivated the potato extensively. and
had produced several varieties.
Mr.. &, Murray. +. l.. s., Of the British
Museum. read "A paper on The Potato
Disease lie said that the history of
with the history Of the potato itself
notice having been first called Ia ID in
lSf5, when IL was probably brought 10
the coun.ry froIL Belgium. After de
scribing the nature of the fungus, Mr..
Murray said that he had satisfied him
self that the disease was prOpagated by
the spores being distributed by the
wind. A number of glass slides, such ms
are used with microscope, having been
covered with glycorne and placed ON the
lee side of field of infected potatoes
when "A slight breeze was blowing, II was
found thai after AN exposure of few
hours the slides contained each a num-
hcr of these spores. From continuous
microscopic investigation il had been
seen thnt the complete fungus was pro
duced in three hours, and this fact ac-
counted for the sudden and disastrous
spread Of the disease. No system OF
earthing up the potatoes could, he he
leyed, be- etlicacious in checking the di-
sease, neither could confidence be placed
in amy legislative cnactments regulating
th" planting Of potatoes.